N.C. State’s Warren named ACC player of the year

N.C. State’s Warren named ACC player of the year

NC. State T.J. Warren dives the lane during a game against Wake Forest at LJVM Coliseum on Tuesday January 14,2013. PJ Ward-Brown/The Courier-Tribune

Steven SchrammThe Fayetteville Observer

RALEIGH — T.J. Warren said that he’s familiar with the history of the N.C. State basketball program since his father is a former Wolfpack player.

On Tuesday, he made some himself.

The sophomore forward became the sixth Wolfpack player to be chosen ACC Player of the Year by both the league’s coaches and members of the media.

“It’s a wonderful award,” Warren said. “It wouldn’t be possible without my teammates and coaching staff. They gave me a lot of confidence and encouraged me throughout the year. A lot of credit to them.”

As the most experienced weapon on a young Wolfpack team, the 6-foot-8 Warren averaged 25.5 points per game in conference play, leading the league in that category by a wide margin.

In addition to scoring average, Warren also led the league in field goal percentage (.532) — joining Horace Grant (Clemson, 1987) and Tim Duncan (Wake Forest, 1997) as the only players to lead the ACC in both categories. The second-year star also paced the conference in offensive rebounding (3.2 per game), and he ranked eighth overall in total rebounds (7.1 per game), in addition to fourth in steals (1.8 per game).

The forward finished the campaign ranked third nationally in scoring, while his 9.8 made field goals per contest led the country. He also paced the ACC with 26 20-point contests, and he scored more than 30 on nine different occasions.

He had 26 games in which he scored 20 or more points. He had nine 30-point games and scored more than 40 points in each of the Wolfpack’s last two games.

“This is a tremendous honor for T.J.,” Wolfpack Mark Gottfried said in a statement. “The ACC is a great league with many great players. He faced every defense imaginable this year and was still productive almost every single night. This season he has put his name along some of the ACC’s all-time greats and he is certainly deserving. Our program is proud of his accomplishments.”

According to separate votes by the coaches and media, Parker is the league’s Freshman of the Year while Virginia’s Tony Bennett was Coach of the Year. McDaniels was the league’s Defensive Player of the Year.

Warren found out about the honor when a manager told him during Tuesday’s practice.